


sweet creature

by jailbait_boy



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Age Play, Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, CGRE - Caregiver/Age Regressor, Caregiver, Cute, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Little Kiibo, Little Kokichi, M/M, Motive Swap, Non-Incestuous Shinguji Korekiyo, Non-Sexual Age Play, Out of Character, Pacifiers, Shinguji Korekiyo-centric, Sort Of, Spoilers, after chapter one, cgre, i try not to, kaede and rantaro die, korekiyo protection squad, little himiko, little korekiyo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24514468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jailbait_boy/pseuds/jailbait_boy
Summary: After the dramatic motive of chapter one, Monokuma decides to take a different approach at a motive. One that would render few vulnerable, making them an easy target. Involuntary age regression, anyone?Or,Korekiyo tries to hide the fact he's not feeling normal.
Relationships: Shinguji Korekiyo & Everyone
Comments: 44
Kudos: 187





	1. no punches left to roll with

**Author's Note:**

> let's set up the plot;  
> \- kiyo is not incestuous or a murderer. she took care of him as he was her little brother.  
> \- this takes place after chapter one, meaning everyone except amami and kaede are alive.  
> \- this is gonna be completely non sexual, as i feel like that would take away from the plot and overall fluff of this story.  
> \- more tags are to be added.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its been two days since.. the trial. two days since they've heard anything from monokuma. perhaps they had it good for too long?

6:00 am.

Korekiyo groaned.

His body felt hot, way too hot. His head pounded rhythmically with his heart. It was far too early for this.

"6--am? Already?" Korekiyo groaned to himself as he glared at the clock above his dorm's door. He always woke up feeling rested at 6. What reasoning was there for him to feel so.. beaten right now?

Memories of the past two days flashed through his mind. Just two days ago, Rantaro Amami was found in the library with no pulse, in a pool of his own blood. Two days ago, Kaede Akamatsu was discovered to be a murderer, and was put to her death being dragged across those giant piano keys, painting them with blood. Two days ago.. the murders started. How long would it be til the next took place? Korekiyo had no idea.

Monokuma had been silent since the trial ended. He hadn't shown up to ruin their mourning for the next 48 hours. Today would mark the third day since the death of the Ultimate Pianist, and.. Rantaro.

It wasn't time to think about this. He had to get ready.

Ready for... another day in this purgatory. 

Silently, he swung his long legs over his bed. He always woke up early to prepare himself for the day ahead. Having such a complex outfit was a blessing and a curse. He pulled off the aesthetic he and his older sister designed, but for the price of how time consuming and high maintenance it was... it was worth it still.

Brushing out his long hair, he started to get dressed.

* * *

8:20.

He'd gotten distracted. It took him an absurd amount of time to get dressed today. Much longer than usual. He supposed it would be fine if he was only twenty minutes late for breakfast. Others were usually much later, but it would raise suspicion from the others. He was always there early.

He walked down the halls at a quick pace. Even if it was okay.. he hated being late. It wasn't beautiful.

His head still pounded with each step he took. He wasn't in a mood to converse today, but they had made a promise to show up to breakfast every morning to make sure everyone was okay and alive. He wasn't one to break a promise.

He cringed a bit as he pushed open the heavy doors of the dining area. His bones ached, which wasn't unusual. He was a pretty slender person, but today everything felt harder. Perhaps he was developing an illness. It'd be a pain, but he'd have to deal with it if that's the issue.

The light in this room was horrible, in his opinion. The yellow-y tint was not good for his head at all. He slithered into the room, barely stumbling over his own feet. He sulked into his usual spot at the end of the table, just grabbing a glass of water that was set on the table. In his barely awake state, he didn't notice that all eyes were on him, and that the room was filled with hushed whispers.

"Hey freakshow!"

Miu's condescending, loud voice made Kiyo cringe. Her voice filled the room, and he finally noticed how silent it was in here. He slowly cracked open his eyes to look over to her. She sat at the other end of the table, with more of the louder people in the group. They were all looking at him, with various expressions on their face.

"Kiyo, are you feeling alright?" Shuichi asked quietly, sitting up a little straighter. "It's not like you to leave your mask behind.."

Shit.

Korekiyo's hand shot to his mouth, just now realizing his mistake. His face was bare. He forgot his mask. He.. forgot his mask.

Kiyo stood up fast, ungracefully making a B-line for the door. He needed his mask. He couldn't- he couldn't do this right now. No one had seen him without his mask since.. ( ~~since sister died in that hospital room)~~ he was a child. It was more than just a comfort thing to him. It was important. 

Before he could reach the door, a loud noise sounded from behind him. It was a laugh.

"Goo~od morning, everyone!" Monokuma's stupid voice was grating Kiyo's ears. This was horrible timing. He knew fully well that there would be consequences if he left during Monokuma's speech. He had to.. wait.

* * *

Everyone's eyes were quickly taken off of Korekiyo's escape, fixing to Monokuma. They knew Monokuma would show his face eventually. Two days of peace was.. far too long in this killing game. Many already knew why he was here.

A new motive.

"Stop right there, Shinguiji! I have an announcement," Monokuma fixed his gaze onto Kiyo, who straightened up right away, hand still covering the lower half of his face. His eyes were wide, other hand still in a death grip around the doors handle. He was impatient.

"So.. I'm sure you all know we have to keep the game rolling. But this time.." Monokuma's voice got quieter. "This isn't going to be as dramatic and forced as the last motive. That was to get the game started."

A few sighs of relief were heard.

"This time.. it's going to be on your own free will!" Monokuma's voice was excited. It was truly fascinating how the human behind this monster craved destruction, thought Kiyo.

"I won't say who.. but three of your classmates feel a bit.. small right now."

Noises of confusion were heard from the tables. Monokuma was being awfully cryptic.

"Gonta doesn't understand.."

Monokuma's head spun to Gonta. 

"I'll gladly explain! Three of your classmates feel small!" Monokuma laughed. What the hell was he on about?

"Diiid someone shrink? That'd be cool~" Kokichi's excitedly asked.

"No way, idiot. We're all here and normal sized." Kaito argued.

"Monokuma, please explain further."

"Alright, fine! Jeez, I thought you guys were smarter than this." Monokuma.. rolled his eyes? "I'm not going to name names, or say how this happened, but three of your classmates are gonna have a bit of a tough time acting their age from now on." He laughed again. "It's.. sort of a disease, if you will."

"I.. still don't understand. But since it's a disease, we can cure it, right?" Kiibo tried to get more information out of Monokuma.

To everyone's surprise, Monokuma just shrugged before disappearing. That was.. odd. 

* * *

"So.. anyone have any guesses to what that was supposed to mean?" Kaito scratched the back of his head. "I've got no idea."

"He said it was an illness, right?" Kirumi stood behind the table, putting down the tray of food she was holding. "Is anyone here feeling off today?" She glanced around the room, two people raised their hands.

Himiko and.. Kiibo?

"Nyeehh..." Himiko groaned. "My magic's been completely off this morning.. It's not fair.." She whined. While that was not uncommon for her, she had been acting more tired this morning. Tenko had to knock four times to get her out of bed.

"I.. don't know if this applies to me, but my sensitivity has been weird today. My settings feel like they're constantly changing." Kiibo played with his hands, unusually nervous.

"You're a robot, dummy. You can't get sick!" Kokichi teased him. He didn't actually know if it was possible for a robot to.. catch a bug, but he'd take any chance he could to get Kiibo mad.

"H-hey.." Kiibo.. sniffled?

Kokichi's eyes widended. Kiibo was.. crying? Kokichi had messed with him before, but this reaction was extreme. He'd expected him to defend himself.

"Oh, now you've done it, Kokichi! You're such a degenerate!" Tenko ran by Kokichi to comfort Kiibo. They've been getting to know eachother better recently. Much to Tenko's delight, Kiibo wasn't exactly male! Well, he did go by he and him, but he didn't really mind what he was referred to as. He was a robot, he didn't really have a sex.

Kokichi sat dumbfounded. That wasn't supposed to happen. Kirumi walked over to where Himiko and Kiibo sat, gently putting her hand on each of their foreheads.

"They're both.. unnaturally hot. They've both definitely got a fever."

So much was going on, that no one noticed Korekiyo's get away.

* * *

Korekiyo basically sprinted to his room. He slammed his door shut, leaning against it. He forgot his mask.. how could he.. He wasn't sick with the disease Monokuma brought up, was he?

His head still pounded. This was bad. They all saw his face. They all saw.. his face. Kiyo's heart beat fast. Breath catching in his throat. This was bad. Bad.. bad..

Kiyo didn't know when he started crying, but the crocodile tears fell down his cheeks. He hadn't cried like this since he was a child.. why was he so sensitive today?

He sat by his door, sobbing like a toddler. God, this was humiliating. He was nearly an adult, and an ultimate in his field of research. He shouldn't be reduced to acting like a child just because of an illness. It just.. didn't feel possible.

His confusion made him cry harder. He was so overwhelmed. His hands trembled as he wiped his tears. He shakily stood up, feeling like a baby dear. If he had caught this disease, like he expected..

He'd be an easy target.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. By feeling 'small', Monokuma must've meant age. Kiyo hadn't had this much issue with his emotions since he was a mere child. Every small detail felt like it hit hard. His emotions changed so easily right now.. That must've been Monokuma's plan. To get them to be this vulnerable.

He can't let anyone know he's got this disease.

While Korekiyo had made friendly with few of the participants in this killing game, he wasn't exactly friends with any of them. People like the two other suspected ill had many friends who would be willing to take care of them. 

Korekiyo.. didn't have anyone. 

He knew he was weird, preferring to be alone, his overall actions, aesthetic, etc. Not many people had a real reason to like him. Many of them considered him a creep, anyways. All this illness would do is make him an easy target to anyone looking to escape. He's going to have to hide this. He was already pretty lonesome, so it couldn't be that much of a challenge.

The knock at his door made him jump.

* * *

Gonta stood behind Kiyo's door, distracted by an ant crawling beside the door.

Kiyo opened the door fast, this time wearing his mask. He looked a bit.. different. His hair wasn't as smooth, now a tad bit messy. His eyes also had a distinct red puffiness to them, but Korekiyo tried to hide that.

"Gonta..? What is it?" He didn't keep eye contact, but shifted awkwardly in his own room.

"Ah! Kiyo! Gonta came to get you!" Gonta's loud voice was always comforting, but Kiyo really didn't want to go with him. "We're coming up with a plan for the babies! You need to come!"

The babies...?

"Of course, Gonta. But please, tell me what you mean by 'babies'." Korekiyo knew what he meant, but he needed confirming. If he was right in his suspicions, that would be actually humiliating. Another reason to hide, at that. But, Kiyo knew he had to go with him. He would be even more suspicious if he stayed behind.

"Shuichi will explain once we get there, but they told Gonta to hurry, so we gotta go!" Gonta sounded rushed. Was it really that much of an emergency?

"Alright, you go on ahead. I'll be there s-"

Korekiyo was cut off when Gonta picked him up, carrying him in a bridal position. Kiyo squirmed, desperately trying to get out of Gonta's grasp. 

"G-Gonta! Put me-- Uh!" Korekiyo gasped as Gonta began running. Both of their hair's blew in the wind. It was truly humanities achievement how strong Gonta was, but right now Korekiyo couldn't find time to marvel in it. He wanted DOWN.

Korekiyo was no longer struggling, but now he was grasping onto Gonta for dear life. This was humiliating and horribly disgraceful. Gonta merely laughed at Korekiyo's sudden change of attitude.

In no time, they arrived to the classroom.

* * *

All eyes turned to the door when it was slammed open. 

Gonta walked in, barely out of breathe. Korekiyo still clinging onto him.

"Sorry for the wait!" Gonta apologized to his classmates before remembering Korekiyo. "Ahh! Sorry for picking you up, Kiyo! That wasn't very gentleman-ly!"

Kiyo squirmed out of Gonta's arms, almost losing his balance right away. He fixed his hair, standing up straight. He looked like a wreck still. 

"It's- ah, it's alright. Don't do it again, please." 

Korekiyo looked up and noticed what was happening in the room. 

It wasn't strange that all eyes were on their... loud entrance. The dynamics happening were what was strange.

Himiko sat on Tenko's lap, looking as if she was about to doze off. Her head rested on Tenko's shoulder, while Tenko appeared to be flustered. Angie sat with them, cooing over Himiko. Kiibo was sitting in his chair, surrounded by Maki and Shuichi. Maki looked as if she was playing with him as he drew on a piece of scrap paper. A panel on his back was open, where Miu was tinkering.

Were the other two already that far gone?

Everyone returned to their given task, choosing to ignore the humiliation Kiyo was just put through. It was weird that they didn't mention it, actually. Say it was a normal day, he'd be mocked for that display. He shrugged it off as everyone being stressed due to the circumstances.

"Ah, Korekiyo," Tsumugi walked over to him. "Thank you for coming. I'm glad you were able to find your mask."

"Kukuku.. I'm terribly sorry for the mishap. I forgot it in my room earlier." He wasn't lying, but he definitely wasn't going to let them know he had a huge breakdown in his room over that.

"So, we've figured out two of the three who've been infected by the illness." Kirumi walked into the room, holding two plastic cups. One was filled with a black liquid, while the other was filled with some sort of juice. She set one on the table besides Tenko, and the other one right in front of Kiibo.

Kiibo happily grabbed the blackish drink, and hummed as he drank it. Himiko was too sleepy to do anything but whine. Everyone was treating them like children. It made Korekiyo nervous. If he got found out, would he be treated like this, or would he be kicked to the side? He can't say either sounded like a good option. But.. if he was treated like them, that could be fun... Wait, no.

He was jealous, anyways.

"If you don't mind me asking," Korekiyo asked smoothly. "Roughly, what age are they currently?" He needed to know for his own sake. When he was in his room, he sobbed like a toddler. He didn't want to have to act any younger than that. He wasn't even sure how he was holding it together right now.

"I think that Kiibo's mentally about six, right now," Maki spoke up, brushing her bangs out of her face. "From what I can tell, Himiko is probably two." It seemed like Maki was the main adult, currently.

"Ah, to be expected of the Ultimate Child Caregiver." Korekiyo tried his best at acting normal, but he felt awfully shaky. He's extremely lucky to be the only anthropologist here, but Maki may also be a threat to finding him out. He needed to get away and go to his study, and quickly.

Maki shrugged, but he could tell she was okay with the compliment. Maybe she didn't hate kids as much as she's stated before.

"We still don't know who the third one is," Kaito claimed, standing up to dispose of Kiibo's empty cup. "Would you have any idea, Kiyo?"

Korekiyo's eyes widened. Play it off.. play it off..

"Ah, I'm afraid I haven't ran into anyone else today," He made it sound like there wasn't a possibility it could even be him. "However, Kokichi and Ryoma aren't present right now. Have you tried asking them?"

"Actually, I don't think we have," Kaito looked to be thinking hard. "They ran off soon after you did, but they didn't say anything."

Korekiyo almost sighed in relief. Not being the suspicious one was going to be a very helpful. The others began discussing the possibility of it being Kokichi, but Ryoma was basically not even a possibility in their eyes.

Korekiyo had heard more than enough. No one needed to explain what was happening, as he was pretty damn sure he was experiencing it on his own. He didn't want to be here anymore.

Korekiyo quickly slipped away, and made his way to his anthropology lab.

Maybe he should've stuck around long enough to hear about their schedule..


	2. switching faster than the channels on tv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> apparently theres more than 3 littles.
> 
> also, adventures of korekiyo being found out.

Korekiyo doesn't remember when he dozed off.

He'd spent nearly all day hiding in his lab, hoping no one would find him. He climbed up his stairs to the second level of bookcases in his study room. He didn't feel up to studying hard today, so he opted to read a book instead. He found an area with chairs and sat in the corner, leaning on the wall while resting his feet on another chair.

He should've known he'd fall asleep in the position, given how tired he was today.

He wasn't usually a heavy sleeper, but given the events of today he felt it was justified for him to be exhausted. He was completely unaware when someone entered his area, calling his name. He was unaware when someone climbed his stairs, and approached the sleeping anthropologist.

"Hey- Wake up."

Korekiyo stirred a little, shuffling in his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes to see Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astronaut standing over him. He quickly sat up, nearly slipping. 

His thumb was also dangerously close to his mouth, so he tried to play that off as scratching his face. Momota made no sign of noticing, so thank the god's for that.

"A-ah, Kaito. Why are you-" Korekiyo composed himself, taking his legs off of the chair in front of him. "What can I help you with?"

"Oh, it's dinnertime," Kaito informed him. "We figured it'd be better if we all got together for dinner so we could figure out how we're going to deal with this."

That made sense. This was a tough situation, it was bound they'd want everyone together at some point. Korekiyo slid off of his chair, setting down his book before standing tall before Kaito. 

"Right.. Very well then, let's get going."

They walked in relative silence for a little bit. Kaito and Kiyo didn't have a lot in common, so it was to be expected. Korekiyo was pretty sure Kaito was another person who was unsettled by him. He didn't exactly blame him, either. He was plenty used to the act of judgement by now.

"Oh, by the way..." Kaito turned to him. "We found out who the third.. 'sick' person is."

Kiyo choked, completely taken off guard. He passed it off as clearing his throat, and caught back up to Kaito.

"Oh? So who," Kiyo caught his breathe. Although Korekiyo had a few inches on Kaito, Kaito was fast. "Who was it?" 

Korekiyo was nervous, sure. But for some reason he was lead to believe they didn't know it was him. Kaito was acting relatively normal, so they must have misdiagnosed someone, or perhaps there were actually more than three? 

Kaito groaned, turning again to look at Korekiyo.

"Well, of course Monokuma decided to make our lives harder," He sighed. "He made... Kokichi act like an eight year old. I mean, hey, it's not much of a change, but now Kokichi is even harder to deal with."

Korekiyo was kind of shocked, honestly. He didn't expect it to be Kokichi, as he was acting normal at breakfast. It was entirely possible that he was just as good at lying as he was as a child, but... he just didn't expect it. Kaito was right, though. Kokichi acting like a child would mean he's more emotional and lacks even more impulse control. That being mixed with a childish Himiko and Kiibo, would lead to a lot of stress. 

They continued their walk with quiet chatter. Speaking of some of the things that had happened while Korekiyo was gone. Apparently Kokichi had taken on bugging Kiibo, which was expected. Himiko had barely been awake all day, but did have a bit of a tantrum at one point. All this talk made Korekiyo increasingly uncomfortable, mainly nervous.

He figured that as he was one of the more mature people here, he may have an easier time resisting his regression. But, with Kokichi slipping that fast, he was scared. Kokichi was childish, yes, but with intent. Kiyo wasn't stupid. He knew fully well how good Kokichi was at lying, how good he was at faking his emotions. He was an enigma, yet he so easily gave in.

Korekiyo was going to have to try harder.

Before long, they reached the movie room behind the gaming room. Apparently they've decided it would be a good option to eat in here today. There were many couches, and plenty of carpet to comfortably lay on. He supposed it would be a good switch up, considering most of them spent their day in the real dining area today.

"Ah- Hello, Kiyo." Shuichi was the first to notice him. Shuichi sat on the couch, Kokichi tangled in his legs. Kokichi sat on the floor, a plate of macaroni in front of him. He was intent on giving Shuichi a hard time, right now.

Korekiyo nodded in Shuichi's direction, making his way to the couch as well. Most people actually chose to sit on the ground, so he claimed the corner spot for himself. He had to admit, it was weird for everyone to be gathered so domestically. He'd have to act normal through this.

The movie playing likely had to do with Gonta. It was an american movie that had been translated into Japanese earlier that year. The plot followed ants trying to live, or something. Korekiyo didn't watch childrens' movies, ever.

"Why did you run off so fast earlier?"

Korekiyo nearly jumped at the question. He looked up to see Maki, the Ultimate Child Caregiver staring down at him. She had a suspicious look on her face, but then again, it was hard to read her emotions most of the time.

"Oh.. It was a bit rude of me to take off so fast, I suppose." Korekiyo pushed his hair out of his face, trying to act as natural as possible. "I'm afraid I'm not a fan of children, myself. I'm terribly sorry for not being much of a help with them." He wasn't completely lying. It was true that he was never... a fan of children, even when he was a child himself.

Maki's eyes softened a little, but her look of suspicion remained.

"You still should be more of a help from now on. This is a group situation." With that, she walked over to her own seat. Korekiyo sighed.

He noticed that Ryoma was also here, this time. He sat in the far corner alone. Actually, everyone was here. Most of them were focused on the movie, so they weren't as loud as usual. Korekiyo pulled his legs to his chest, easily bending them. He tried to comprehend what was happening in the movie.

He looked up when a tap was on his shoulder.

"Kiyo! Gonta got you food," Gonta smiled down to him, holding a plate of what looked to be chicken nuggets. "When Gonta carried you earlier, you were very light! You have to eat more."

Korekiyo's eyes widened. He didn't expect to be victim to an act of kindness like this today. It'd been a while since someone worried about him like that; it was endearing. Korekiyo smiled behind his mask, his eyes softening. He gladly took the plate, although he wasn't quite hungry.

"Thank you, Gonta."

With that, Gonta walked over to his spot on the floor. Kiibo automatically leaned against him, and Gonta accepted him. Now that Kiyo was looking, many people appeared to be cuddling to some extent.

It made him feel more touch starved than usual.

He hadn't had that since he was young. His parents were never the most... loving people. His sister was the only one who truly treated him like the child he was. His sister... he missed her.

"Rise and Shine, Ursine!"

* * *

Four robots appeared in front of them.

Thats right, the blue one's gone. They had witnessed him being pushed into Kaede's piano.

"Aww!" The pink one coo'd. "You're all acting like Mommies and Daddies!"

"It's gross, actually! You guys need to get to the killin' already!" The yellow one complained.

"Ah! Bears-" Angie spoke up. "Auta has been wondering, how did you choose who became a baby?" Angie seemed... happy? She'd actually had been having fun with this motive. On her island, there were plenty of children she'd help take care of. This almost felt a bit nostalgic. 

"Oh, I was also questioning that." Kirumi entered the room, holding drinks. She really needed to take a break sometime.

"Did you purposely choose Kokichi to mess with us?" Ryoma grumbled. He'd been practically followed around by the purple one all day. Nonstop questions, and nonstop rude comments. It was getting to him.

The bears looked confused, except for Monophanie. She looked nervous, shaking slightly.

"Ko-ki-chi?" The robotic green one questioned. "He-isn't-sup-posed- to-be- a -ba-by."

Everyone in the room looked confused. Kokichi stood up, looking angry.

"Then- Then why am I actin' like this?" He crossed his arms, face looking somewhat more colored than usual. "I have like- no control over anything right now!"

Monophanie shrunk in on herself, taking a few steps back. She then decided to speak up.

"W-well.." Everyone looked to her. "I may of.. accidentally infected four people?"

Everyone was suddenly talking, it was noisy.

"What do you mean, 'Accidentally'?!"

"Who's the fourth person, then?"

"You'd better give us a cure, shitheads!"

While everyone was loud, Korekiyo was breathing hard. His eyes were wide, yet he tried to calm down the best he could. Everyone was angry about this. Everyone was angry because of him... He definitely couldn't tell them, now.

He wasn't thinking straight.

He knew they weren't angry at him. He knew it wasn't his fault. He was just... overwhelmed. His head felt cloudy. He had to get out of here before he slipped like earlier. He didn't want to cause a scene right now.

Everyone was still loudly arguing over this new information. It was easy for Korekiyo to slip out unnoticed. 

Except, he wasn't unnoticed.

Korekiyo made his way to the men's washrooms, unaware of the boy behind him.

* * *

He splashed cold water on his face, looking back up to the mirror. His hair was a mess, his eyeliner was smudged, he looked... tired. His pale face had some red blotches, clearly his emotional fit hadn't been erased from his features yet. It'd been hours, but there was a reason he avoided having meltdowns like that.

Contrary to popular belief, he wore his heart on his sleeve. He was just.. really good at hiding it now.

"Well, well, well! Who do we have here," Kokichi's voice echo'd in the near empty bathroom.

Korekiyo jumped, spinning around to see who was there. He pulled his mask back up, ready to play his facade.

"Ah, Kokichi. Did you require something?"

Kokichi walked up to the counter beside him, jumping onto it. He sat beside Kiyo, swinging his legs. He studied Korekiyo, before tilting his head.

"You've been weird today."

Korekiyo was almost sweating. Leave it to the Ultimate Supreme Leader to ruin his plan. He could tell Kokichi wasn't acting little right now, which fed into his theory of why his head kept feeling weird randomly. Perhaps they weren't in a constant state of feeling small, but could slip into it. Right now wasn't the right time to think about it.

"My apologies," Korekiyo flipped his hair back before turning off the sink. He needed a new space to calm down. "I don't possess the skills to deal with children, so I tried to avoid them." Korekiyo couldn't tell what Kokichi was thinking. It was always hard to pinpoint what was going on in the smaller boys mind.

"Hmm.. are you sure about that?" Kokichi had an innocent smile on his face, his feet still rocking.

Kiyo's heart beat faster, this was bad. Kokichi knew. Korekiyo's eyes shifted, looking for an excuse. He fidgeted with a strand of his hair, avoiding eye contact.

"It's not nice to lie, Kiyo."

Korekiyo stared at Kokichi. His wide golden eyes met Kokichi's mischievous light purple ones. 

"I- Kokichi, if you tell anyone..." Korekiyo took a defensive route. His eyes narrowed as he turned to face Kokichi. He used his height to intimidate the smaller one. "I won't hesitate to rip out your nerves."

Before Kokichi could argue or defend himself, a noise stole their attention.

Bzzt! The noise of the monitor behind them made a mechanical noise and it turned on.

"Students, this is your headmaster speaking! "

* * *

Monokuma buzzed onto the screen, seated at some sort of dining table. It was the typical place for announcements, but everyone knew it wasn't quite night time yet.

"It has come to my attention that there has been a mix up between the infected!"

Korekiyo stilled, backing up from Kokichi and staring at the monitor. He was confirming what they had already known, but this would definitely start a hunt for the fourth victim.

"And me, being the most generous, brilliant, kindest headmaster around," Monokuma dramatically turned. "I'll just tell you who it is right now!"

Shit. No, please .. !

"The fourth little in question isss~ **Korekiyo Shinguiji**!"

He had to go. He had to find somewhere to hide, right now. If they all came looking for him, he'd be swarmed with questions. Everyone now knew he was going to be vulnerable. Him being the only one who didn't technically have any friends to rely on could be dangerous. He couldn't hide forever, but he had to do something, and quick.

Korekiyo turned to look at Kokichi. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at him. He needed to be intimidating. He walked to the door, not even looking at Kokichi.

"Don't follow me."

Without any other words, Korekiyo sped down the hallway. He needed to hide somewhere. He couldn't go to his lab, it'd be too obvious. Kirumi's lab was also off limits, as he spent a lot of time there. He considered the dorms, but that was also a bad idea. If he got cornered in his room he'd surely be questioned. He'd have to go somewhere they wouldn't even consider. Somewhere he rarely went...

The pool. 

Korekiyo wasn't the type to do anything psychical, let alone swim. There had been a few group trips to the pool that he avoided by saying he was busy. It was always easy for him to get away from the others, as they didn't try forcing him into anything. He supposed that could be a reason for the low trust they had of him.

He pushed open the front door, speed walking to the pool. There had to be some area there he could hide in.


	3. makin me crazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> korekiyo knew he couldnt hide forever
> 
> although, maybe he didn't need to hide anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize if he's a bit ooc

Korekiyo Shinguiji didn't get bored.

He was the Ultimate Anthropologist, one of the very best in the entire world. Studying humans came like instinct. He was an observer. He could watch from afar and ever face boredom. It was a quirk that came with his field of study. There was never an end of material to study, especially when material basically wrote itself.

So why... why was he having such a difficult time sitting still?

Korekiyo sat in the corner of the pool's storage room, right beside the door. The door was slightly cracked open for peeking purposes, but other than that he was in the dark. He sat with his long legs crossed in front of him, hands fidgeting with a strand of hair. He felt.. nervous. He supposed he should be taking this time to observe the students as they search, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He knew he'd get caught either way.

Korekiyo noticed how much his hands were shaking. He could barely sit still without squirming. He felt like crying again, but he wouldn't allow himself to do so. He was going to resist this illness with his entire being. Korekiyo Shinguiji was nearly 17, not 4. If he couldn't act his own age he'd be damned.

His attempts at self motivation were to no avail, though. His eyes stung as he tried to stifle his emotions. He felt like a prey being hunted by bigger animals. It was an emotion he wasn't unfamiliar with. He'd gotten good at hiding for a reason. Having to hide in school bathrooms from the older kids payed off, to some extent. 

He really didn't want to think about that right now.

But there was nothing else to think about. His head felt foggy and it was hard to think of anything right now. His heart and thoughts were both racing, and it seemed like overwhelmed was going to be a common emotion from now on.

He just wanted to go to his dorm.

The level of discomfort he felt was astounding. Usually, he'd be able to divert his attention to more important issues, but right now it was hard. His mind kept leading to more basic things, like little details of the room. He supposed this had to do with the regression, as he wasn't acting normal. The more things he saw, the more overwhelmed he became.

He was about to sigh when a noise from the pools door made him freeze. His heart started beating even faster. The slam of the door closing sounded through the pool. Soft footsteps started from the door, getting closer and closer to where he was hiding.

"Korekiyo?"

Someone was here.

* * *

_Earlier..._

_"The fourth little in question isss~ **Korekiyo Shinguiji**!"_

Everyone in the movie room went silent. Shuichi looked around, noticing Korekiyo wasn't even in the room. He'd must have run off before the announcement.

No one really knew what to say. They hadn't expected Monokuma to straight up tell them the person, and most of them hadn't expected it to be Korekiyo. He was by far a mysterious person, and probably one of the most mature people here. No one knew a lot about him, but he was always adamant on his studies and very polite at that.

It was almost humorous to suggest the tall, lanky teenager was going to be acting like a child.

Loud laughter rang out through the room, diverting everyones' attention to the person in question. Miu was cackling so hard she nearly fell over. She wiped tears from her eyes, likely from laughing.

"I fuckin' called it!" She cheered, standing up straight. "I knew that freaks been acting weird since this morning!" She wasn't lying. She was the first one to notice when Korekiyo entered the room without his mask this morning. Hell, everyone noticed. No one wanted to make a big deal out of it to spare the feelings of the quiet man in question.

"Shit-" Kaito swung around, searching around the room with his eyes. "Where is he?"

At this point, everyone realized he was gone. Kirumi cleared her throat, standing tall.

"He excused himself to the bathroom a few minutes ago," Kirumi wiped her hair out of her face, gesturing to the door. "I also noticed Kokichi following him shortly after."

Ah, so thats where he went. He jumped from sitting under Shuichi's legs to run away shortly before the announcement came. Shuichi didn't follow him as Kokichi mumbled something before leaving. He'd decided to give the boy privacy.

The conversation paused when the door being them opened. Kokichi sulked in, looking miserable. This wasn't a trick, was it? They've had no instances of Kokichi lying since the regression happened other than him lying about how he felt. And from that, he sounded like a bad liar.

"Ah- Kokichi," Shuichi walked over to him, guiding the smaller one into the room. "What's wrong?" Shuichi was kind of worried, honestly. Kokichi looked... extremely glum.

Kokichi fell onto the couch, sighing dramatically as he did.

"Well.. I found 'Kiyo, right?" Kokichi had a whine-y tone in his voice. "And we were sitting in the bathroom, and then the announcement went off!" Shuichi didn't know how much of this he could trust, but he continued listening anyways.

He should've known Kokichi would find some sort of trouble while he was out. It was basically Ouma's nature to attract trouble. 

"A-and then he looked at me and said," Kokichi turned his head down, covering his mouth dramatically. He tried to look as scary as he could. "'Grrr.. Don't follow me or i'll tear out your nerves!' or something like that."

Shuichi could easily believe that, actually. There had been multiple instances of Korekiyo threatening Kokichi over numerous things, yet they've always been empty. 

Then again, there was also a huge chance Kokichi was antagonizing Kiyo, as that was also a common occurrence. 

Tenko put Himiko on the ground, much to Himiko's despair. Angie took this moment to snuggle up to Himiko. Himiko slightly whined, but accepted the hug. Kiibo took this chance to also snuggle up to her a bit.

They were cute.

"We have to find the degenerate, in that case!" Tenko jumped up, in a fighting stance already. "He might be male, but he's a baby like these three, right? It's probably dangerous for him to be alone!" Tenko had to admit she had been afraid of Korekiyo in the past, mainly due to his observer nature and general aesthetic. She wasn't, however, a horrible person. She would look past any issues for now.

Her sudden confidence motivated everyone a little bit. Most of them stood up, already knowing they had to find him. Although they didn't know what age he could be feeling, they had to be careful. Shuichi suspected he'd be about Kokichi's age, as he was a generally mature teenager normally. But there was a chance he could be even younger.

"You're right. Everyone split up to search," Kaito was already commanding everyone. "Angie, Tsumugi, and Ryoma; would you guys be okay with staying here with the kids?"

This made Shuichi think a little more. Now that there are four kids, he'd have to start reworking the schedule.

Ryoma groaned, but the other two agreed happily. Ryoma knew this would be a better option for him, as he didn't actually want to help them search for the boy, but this still was a pain.

With that being said, the rest of the class started their search.

* * *

Everyone had been looking for almost an hour by now.

They started with places that they expected him to be. Such as the library, or his lab. They even checked his dorm, but he was nowhere to be seen. Everywhere they checked turned out empty. Some people had given up already, insisting they were just taking a small break.

Maki was going to keep looking.

She didn't like kids, but she knew it was important to find Korekiyo. If he was anything like the other three littles, he'd definitely hurt himself if left to his own devices. She had no idea what he would be like as a child, in all honesty. It was given that Kokichi would raise hell, and that the other two would be easy to deal with.

But what was Korekiyo like?

She knew he was a loner, as a teenager. He didn't speak much, but when he did he could be strange. She had no idea how that would translate into his little age. From what she knew right now, he was probably the most mature out of all the children. He was able to hide his current state from them for hours up until Monokuma outted him. Even Kokichi didn't last that long.

All she knew is that he was resisting.

She could understand why he would hide it. In some ways, they were alike. They both avoided the crowds of people given the chance, neither of them being particularity outgoing. She had been brought into the group by force, Kaito always trying to include her any chance he got. But.. no one tried forcing Kiyo to hangout with them. She used to be envious of him, but overtime she started to feel somewhat awkward about it. He was very lonesome, but even she felt the loneliness way too much once in a while.

Right now, she had to focus on finding him. The longer he's alone, the longer he'd be in danger. It wasn't only that he could be a danger to himself right now, but he'd also be an easy target to any potential murders. Everyone wanted Maki to trust that the murders were over, but she wasn't stupid. There was always a risk.

Maki pushed open the door to the pool, noticing it wasn't fully closed. That was a good sign. She closed the door behind her, wincing when she accidentally slammed it. She slowly started walking towards the pool. From her current field of vision, she couldn't see anything out of order. It looked perfectly normal.

"Korekiyo?"

She called out to him, hoping he'd be there. She didn't expect him to be in this pool area, honestly. It seemed like one of the last places he'd hide in. She turned, about to leave when a small noise sounded through the area.

She paused when she heard a shuffling noise coming from the closet on the other side of the room. She walked over as slowly as she could, trying to make no noise. She heard a whimpering sound come from inside the room. It was him.

Maki slowly slid the door open, seeing nothing but darkness at first. She noticed a jacket sitting on a box at the corner of the room.

"Korekiyo," She said his name like a teacher calling a student. She knew how to get children to listen. She wasn't completely sure if he was regressed right now, but a stern hand could be enough to regress someone. She'd tried it with Kokichi earlier, anyways. 

"Come here, please."

Nothing moved in the room, so she flicked on the light of the room. She looked to the side of the door, and that's when she saw a mop of bluish black hair. She closed the door behind her, slowly walking towards the thing in question. She squatted down in front of them.

Korekiyo refused to look up, but it was definitely him. His hair hid his face, but it was obvious to anyone who had seen him before who it was. Maki reached forward, brushing the hair out of his face.

He looked up to her with squinted golden eyes, a small stream of tears leaking out of them already. His eyes were bright with fear, and also enhanced by the tears. His mask was on, but she could clearly see any emotion it was meant to hide. His cheeks and eyes were painted with red puffy spots. Eyeliner lines ran down his face as well.

Maki took her sleeve and gently wiped his face. He stilled when she did, but a small whimper erupted from his throat. It was pitiful to look at, in all honesty. She hadn't expected to find the usually stoic or smiling man crying like this. It made him look a lot younger, like a small child. She tried to make herself look as friendly as she could, softening her glance.

"I-" His voice caught in his throat, softly cracking. "I'm... sorry." He choked out. His voice was quiet, but also somewhat high. His throat ached and it was hard to speak. Maki didn't force him to talk anymore.

"Korekiyo, I need you to come with me," She whispered. She didn't want to panic him any further. "I won't hurt you, I promise. We just need to get back inside before it gets dark out." That was a lie, but she didn't want to directly bring up the other people. She assumed he'd be as lonesome as a child, if not more so.

A look of discomfort flashed on his face, but he nodded weakly. He brought his hands to his face, roughly wiping away any stray tears. Maki frowned at that, but didn't interrupt him.

Korekiyo didn't want to go with her, but he knew there wasn't another option. He couldn't hide from this for long, and in all honesty he was exhausted of hiding. He just wanted to sleep right now.

Maki slowly stood up, standing in the doorway. She turned behind her, waiting for him to follow. Korekiyo shakily stood up, legs shaking slightly. He took a breathe before following her. She smiled when he caught up, offering her side. She offered him a hand, hoping it would comfort him. She wouldn't do this regularly, but if he was basically a child it was okay. He hesitated, but accepted it. She secretly found that adorable. They both walked slowly to the dining area, where most people agreed to meet.

* * *

The room hushed a little when the door opened, eager to see who arrived. Maki stepped in first.

"Oi, Maki! There you a-" Kaito turned with a smile, instantly faltering when he saw the person behind her.

Korekiyo slowly stepped into the room, head down. His face was red, really really red. Tears threatened to leak out again, feeling like a scolded child. He refused to cry in front of everyone right now. It was embarrassing enough that Maki saw him crying. This was humiliating, honestly. He tried so hard to be tough in front of everyone, never letting his emotions get the better of him.

It felt horrible to be this vulnerable, actually.

His vulnerability lead to his endless bullying in elementary and middle school. It lead to nights of wondering why he was so weak, nights of regret. He tried to put up a front at home, pretending to be happy. Pretending to have friends. He always faltered. It lead to his sister worrying over him, which made him feel awful.

He didn't want to make her worry.

"Oh, you found him!" Kaito's smile was bigger now. He quickly walked over to them. He patted Kiyo on the back, which made the other boy freeze instantly. Both Maki and Kaito noticed this, and she shot him a glare. He backed down a little, deciding to take a softer approach.

"Kiyo, why don't you sit down?" Kaito pulled up a chair, looking back at Korekiyo. To be real, the boy looked awful. It was clear he had been crying, and his hat and jacket were gone. Kaito knew better than to make the boy upset right now. He'd probably been through hell today.

Korekiyo let go of Maki's hand, wiping his own eyes once again. He shuffled over to the seat, sitting down slowly. He tucked his knees into his chest, finding it to be the most comforting position to be in right now. He averted his eyes to avoid making eye contact with anyone there, but it was hard to ignore the stares.

The only people in the room currently were him, Maki, Kaito, Shuichi, Kirumi, and Tsumugi. He was lucky that the louder people, other than Kaito, were currently not here. He doesn't think he'd be able to handle questioning from them right now.

Maki stood by the door, watching as he took his seat at the table. She closed the door, making sure no one else would interupt right now. Korekiyo was clearly overwhelmed as it was. Anymore people could easily make him spill into tears again, which wasn't something anyone wanted to deal with right now. Right now, they needed his trust.

Kirumi sat across the table from him, pity painting her face. She leaned forward, passing him a glass of water. He hesitated, but accepted it. He figured it would help him calm down. He shivered when the water hit his mouth, but continued to drink. His hand trembled when he put the water down.

Shuichi and Kaito sat on opposite ends of him, watching him intently. Their eyes felt like they were burning into Kiyo. Shuichi noticed this, and grabbed his own drink to take the pressure off of Kiyo. He didn't know how that would help, but he hoped it would. Kaito looked back to Maki, seeing her guard the door. He internally thanked her.

"Erm.. Korekiyo?" Tsumugi awkwardly called for his attention. He looked up at her, clearly facing a little panic. He didn't make eye contact with her for long, and quickly took on fidgeting with his hair once again.

"You don't have to answer, but how old are you feeling right now?"

It was a valid and important question. They needed to know what ways to deal with him. They already knew that Kiibo was around six, Himiko was a toddler at best, and that Kokichi was about eight. All of their ages varied a lot, making them all have different needs. Their age also told them how easily they'd be slipping into this... headspace. They needed to know how Korekiyo's dynamic would work, as well.

Korekiyo looked down for a second, pulling roughly at his hair now. He was trembling a bit.

"I... I don't know." Korekiyo's voice was small and soft, yet still heavy with emotion. It broke most of their hearts to see him this vulnerable and upset.

Everyone was soft today. They had become a lot more... empathetic. Many of them were forced to act as adults today, and it was genuinely a good experience. Though this was stressful, it was somewhat fun at some points. Over the course of today, they'd started seeing the mentally regressed people more like real children, if that made sense. They were a little more comfortable with openly babying someone who looked just as old as themselves.

"Could you tell us about any of the changes, Kiyo?" Shuichi let his had rest on Korekiyo's back. He paused at first, but accepted the touch.

Korekiyo had to think for a second. Everything was different, actually, but how do you describe that? He'd felt a lot more emotions than he'd usually felt, or at least they'd been a lot harder to deal with. Over today, he had experienced a lot of things that he hasn't felt in possibly years. It was horrifying.

"Well..." Korekiyo tugged at his hair still. "I suppose I've been.. more... um... emot- emotional? It's been hard to control m- myself." Everyone was silent, giving him time to explain himself.

"I- I can't stop crying today..." He wiped his eyes. "I keep thinking irration- ir- irrationally."

The more he spoke, the more hard it felt to remain using his usual vocabulary. It felt more forced, rather than natural. He'd stumble over his words, need more time to process them, etc. He'd even forget the meaning of some words that usually came to him like second nature. He didn't want to force himself to speak like normal, but he didn't want to give into this illness either.

"It's... really scary."

The last bit sounded awkward, to him. To everyone else, it was heartbreaking. The hand on his back was no longer still, but rubbing soothing circles onto his back. Shuichi was trying his best to supply comfort to the boy, any way he could. Korekiyo appreciated it.

Everyone in the room gave Korekiyo their undivided, nonjudgmental attention. Most of them felt extremely bad for the guy. The other children had accepted their illness a lot easier, spare for Kokichi. None of them had to deal with this on their own. The first two opened up about it right away, while Kokichi was forced to as he didn't want to be alone anymore.

Korekiyo had spent the whole day alone.

"From what I've seen," Maki leaned against the door, but listened as anyone else. "He's acting... maybe three or four? I couldn't be certain right now, but it's what I'm leaning to right now." 

"He's pretty non-verbal, unless being questioned, anyways."

That was... a lot younger than Korekiyo was hoping for. Three years old was a far jump from seventeen. It was embarrassing, honestly. He felt weak, not even being able to be as old as Kokichi. It lead him to wonder if he was given a higher dosage of the illness, or if it was his own fault. 

His body language must've changed, as everyone quickly tried to cheer him up.

"It's okay, Korekiyo!" Shuichi rushed to make him feel better. "You're still older than Himiko, and you're still going to be pretty independent. I know this is going to be tough, but we'll find the cure in no time.:

Surprisingly, his words were somewhat comforting.

Slowly, everyone started discussing plans about the littles. Korekiyo... couldn't focus on what they were saying. He was honestly just exhausted. He held his glass of water, occasionally sipping on it. He was so tired. His mind slowly went blank as his eyes had a harder time staying open. He decided to let his eyes close, as it was the best sounding option.

Little did Korekiyo know, everyone was watching him. They quieted down a little when Kaito gestured to Kiyo, who was in the middle of falling asleep. It was kind of funny, and a little cute but no one was going to admit that. No one really wanted to wake him up, as he'd clearly had a rough day.

"Kaito- Do you think you could lift him?"

"Yeah, just open the doors for me."

Kaito pushed his chair away from the table, and turned his back to Korekiyo. Shuichi guided a barely awake Kiyo onto his back, Korekiyo stirring slightly but only to move his legs. Shuichi leaned him onto Kaito, who easily picked him up. Korekiyo may be tall, but he was very easy to carry. Hell, Shuichi could probably carry him if he tried.

Korekiyo was too far gone to recognize who he was being picked up by. He.. was too tired to care, anyways. He subconsciously snuggled into the neck of whoever was carrying him, wrapping his arms around them in the process. He heard someone chuckle, but he didn't care right now.

When Korekiyo woke up, he'd surely regret this. This had to be more humiliating than anything else today. Maybe it was a mixture of the exhaustion and the illness, but right now he just wanted to sleep.

While his consciousness faded, he heard one last thing.

"The beds in the library should be set up by now."


	4. head in the clouds but my gravity's centered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i totally didn't watch a ten minute video of only korekiyo talking so i could figure out how to characterize him better-
> 
> also emo boy kiyo!!!

"You're right, he is very pretty!"

"I wasn't lyin' about that. I've always though he looks just like a girl!"

"Enough, both of you. He's trying to sleep."

A soft groan was heard.

Hm.. Quiet voices faded into frame as Korekiyo's consciousness came back to him. There were three people talking. He couldn't tell who, but it didn't really matter. He just wanted to keep sleeping. Nothing else mattered right now except sleeping.

Wait- voices? 

Korekiyo stirred slightly, shuffling in his bed. Why were people talking? People shouldn't be in his room. As he woke more, he noticed the harsh lights on his face. The assault on his eyes was too much, so he allowed his eyes to flutter a bit. A soft groan erupted from his throat. He slowly opened his golden eyes, ready to search for whatever had awoken him.

The first thing he saw were two sets of eyes. Neither were looking directly at him, but they were both looking to the side. One set of eyes were a pretty ocean blue, with very long eyelashes. The others belonged to a pale person with lilac eyes. They were looking behind them to a tall woman wearing a maid uniform. Her face twisted into a stern expression. 

It took a second for him to register what he was looking at.

Korekiyo gasped, shooting up. He wasn't in his bed, he was in the library. He quickly surveyed his area, looking for an explanation. He panicked-ly made mental notes of what was happening. The two in front of him were Kokichi Oma and Angie Yonaga. The woman behind them was Kirumi Tojo. The bright light was a hanging ceiling light directly above this... futon he was laying on.

The two pairs of eyes in front of him shot back to him, widening greatly. His sudden awaken had startled them. Angie smiled, while the other two had wide eyes.

"Woah, calm down! It's just us, Kiyo." Kokichi exclaimed, taking a step back. He put his hands up defensively. He wasn't actually scared of the guy at all, but he was being a little dramatic.

"I don't- Can you explain why we're in the library?!" His voice was heavy with pure confusion. He didn't remember coming here. There wasn't a reason he'd come here on his own. Swinging his legs over the side of the futon, he pulled the blanket off of him. He tried to remember what lead to him waking up here. 

He wasn't fully awake, but he was becoming more so by the second. Think, Korekiyo. Why would you be here? What lead to this very moment? He almost scolded himself for being so slow right now. He tried starting at the beginning. Yesterday, he woke up feeling ill.

Right! The illness.

Memories came flooding back when Kiyo remembered that. The meltdowns, the lies, everything, He quickly decided he needed to isolate for a few hours, maybe. That was.. going to be haunting him for a long time. He couldn't recall having anything that embarrassing happening to him in the past. Even out of all the trips he'd been on, and the misunderstandings, this had to be the worst. He really didn't want to show his face right now.

"Last night, you fell asleep at the table while we were discussing plans," Kirumi explained, while pining her hair behind her ear. "We didn't want to wake you, so Kaito offered to carry you here."

Korekiyo flushed a little after hearing that. It was embarrassing to fall asleep in front of everyone. He'd wished they had just woken him up to spare him the humiliation. He'd forgotten about that part, as well. People had also really made a habit out of carrying him, hadn't they? He'd been carried twice already in the past 24 hours. 

Kirumi set down a trey of drinks she was holding. She dusted off her apron, before turning back to Korekiyo. 

"We made the Library into a make-shift nursery, of sorts." She gestured to the rest of the room. "We've had at least four adults with you guys at all times, so you don't need to worry about being vulnerable while you sleep. It's better you'd be out here than on your own, at least."

Korekiyo leaned over, looking around the library. There were two sets of futons between each row of bookshelves. Each futon was for a single person. He was currently in the spot closest to the door, and from the setup he could see that Kokichi's futon would be right in front of him, judging by the clothes laying on the floor.

The futon's on the farthest had people sitting on them. Kaito... and Maki. Sitting at the front desk, feet on the table, was Miu. Right beside her sat Kiibo, who was chatting happily with her. From what he could tell, everyone else was elsewhere.

"Good morning, Kiyo! You're the last to wake up!" Angie cheered, patting him on the shoulder.

It was odd for anyone to be cheerful after a situation like that, Korekiyo thought. She was a very interesting person, from an anthropologists perspective. She was always very happy, and she was always committed to crediting Atua for that. Once he had recovered from the day prior, he'd have to study her for a bit, maybe an interview about her god. He'd have to take notes from her about being so stress-free in a situation such as this,

He almost wished she had been regressed, rather than him. Actually, scratch that. He fully wishes she regressed rather than him. He could see her genuinely having fun in this situation, as she was childish as a person. She had fun playing with all the children here, from what he had witnessed earlier. He was also sure that everyone would enjoy being in her company, rather than being forced to watch him for his own safety.

It wasn't fair.

He nodded at her, offering her a quick smile. It didn't really matter though, considering he was wearing a mask. He needed to get out of this room. He stood up shakily, dusting off his legs as he did. It wasn't particularly dirty in this room, which suggested the maid had done some of her excellent cleaning here. It was more habit, than anything.

"Ah, I'm very grateful for all of your help," Korekiyo tugged on his boots, which had been taken off him before he went to bed. "I'm sorry for causing such a burden last night. If you need anything from me, let me know. I definitely owe all of you." 

He didn't want to be here any longer than he needed to be. In all honesty, he just wanted to shut himself in his lab or room for a few hours. He wanted to forget all about yesterday, and any of the events that had happened. He'd cried alone, in front of people, had the audacity to fall asleep in front of them, as well? He'd had such a mysterious and aloof persona during this whole stay, only to have it torn down within hours. 

That shouldn't be such a big deal, but in this scenario it definitely was. Vulnerability and trust was what could get you killed in a place like this. Everyone trusted Kaede, and that lead to her death. Now that they were farther into the game, manipulation would find its way into this, of course. He knew it as well as anyone here did. It was dangerous.

Korekiyo stood tall, already ready to leave the room as soon as possible. Tucking his hair back, he took his leave. Long strides as he his way to the front door as fast as he could. He pushed it open with no struggle. He was about to leave he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He froze, but didn't want to turn around. He knew he'd have to, as no one would stop him without reason. A deeper voice spoke, which was definitely male. He studied the voice for a second, spacing out rather than turning around. He could already tell who it was, anyways. No one in the room currently had a voice this deep, other than one person.

"Woah, woah. Hold on a second, Kiyo."

Korekiyo looked back to see Kaito, who had walked over to him. Christ, he just wanted to be left alone right now. He let go of the door a little, turning to give Kaito his attention. His hand still rested on the door, suggesting he was in a bit of hurry. Kaito wore a worried look on his face.

Kaito looked completely normal, which Kiyo was almost envious of. He could only assume he looked like a mess right now. He hadn't been able to brush his hair yet, nor had he been able to at all yesterday. His makeup was probably smudged to hell, and his clothes were all wrinkled. The more he stood here, the more he realized he had to go. Not a single person here had witnessed him in a way he hadn't allowed them to, yet it seems his control over how the others viewed him had slipped away with his age.

"Look, man. I know you don't want to be here," Kaito sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "But... we don't know how easy it'll be for you to slip. You were pretty young last night."

Kiyo averted his eyes. This topic would never not be humiliating. As much as he told himself it wasn't his fault, his mind screamed that he was weak. Hell, he didn't even care about being weak most of the time. It was just... extra humiliating he could so easily be reduced to nothing but a child's mindset at the will of whoever was running this cursed game. He wondered if they somehow got a kick out of this.

"I assure you, Kaito," Korekiyo forced himself to stand tall, trying to appear as mature as he could. "I'm feeling as I normally would."

It wasn't completely a lie. He didn't feel as sick as yesterday, but he didn't feel exactly the same. His head still felt like he was looking at the world through coffee filters, but he could manage himself. He'd lived by himself for years, he'd be damned if he couldn't handle one day with an illness.

"I appreciate the worry, truly. However, I feel as if I've already been restored to my original state."

Even though he still felt a bit... cloudy. He was truly glad it was over. It was going to be nothing but a story, soon enough. He could only prey the others had enough respect for him to refrain from bringing it up in the future. He knew the killing game would continue, but once he was over this illness, he'd be fine.

Kaito didn't look satisfied at all, which was worrying. His face twisted into a bit of a cringe. Korekiyo almost found it funny, how much emotion Kaito could express without directly trying to. If he was trying to prevent Korekiyo from worrying about what he was about to say, he was awful at it.

"Thats... what I wanted to talk to you about." Kaito grimaced, not wanting to be the one who had to tell Korekiyo.

Korekiyo's eyes must've given off his confusion, cause Kaito looked at him and sighed. The purple haired man looked awfully serious. Kaito gestured for him to come further into the library. Kiyo did as he was told, and let go of the door completely. They walked to a more private area of the library. The man looked at him uncomfortably. He gave Kaito his undivided attention. Kaito dropped his hand to his side and spoke.

"Well... The Monokubs stopped by earlier."

What did this have to do with anything? They stopped by all the time, as it was in their nature. They were truly creatures of chaos, but they mostly would just show up to argue among themselves. They hardly ever gave any information worth listening to, at least. Kiyo prompted him to continue, needing him to get to the point.

Kaito looked troubled, not knowing how to say what he needed to say. Korekiyo grew more and more nervous by the second. If the news had affected Kaito so terribly, it was probably bad. Kaito knew something. Kaito knew Korekiyo knew he knew something. He didn't want to upset Korekiyo, but there wasn't really any other way to say this.

"The... 'illness'," Kaito put emphasis on the word illness. "It won't be going away fully til someone commits a murder, basically."

* * *

The whole atmosphere of the room changed when Kaito delivered the news to Korekiyo.

Everyone had quieted down when Korekiyo made his attempt to leave, leaving everyone in an uncomfortable silence. Telling the little's about the news earlier had been proven... a rather dramatic time. None of them took it well. Each of them had woken up feeling fully grown, none of them slipping into little space at all. The news had been delivered before any of them had awoken, giving the adults time to plan how they'd delivered the news.

The planning was kind of a waste, as it didn't go over well with any of them.

Kiibo woke up before anyone, which was sort of expected. He'd gone into sleep mode earlier than any of the other kids. The only adults in the room at the time had been Miu, Gonta, and Kirumi. Kirumi had been voted to tell him, as she was by far the most mature out of anyone here. Kiibo was confused when he first woke up, much like Korekiyo was. He took the explanation of what happened last night well, as he wasn't overly embarrassed over anything that had happened. He'd given into little space easier than the other two boys. He'd probably spent most of the day coloring, at least.

That being said, he took the news better than the others to come would. That was saying a lot, though. He refused to believe such 'flawed logic', arguing with Kirumi the whole time. Her patience was never ending, and she was able to comfort him quickly. Miu, who still was in some sort of an older-sister head space, had coddled him a little too much after that. That's what lead to them confirming their theory of it being possible to induce one of the little's into slipping. Kiibo had spent the rest of the morning with her, teetering on the border of little and adult the whole time.

Himiko awoke next, which was unexpected. She'd been asleep the whole day, sure, but they didn't expect her to be overly awake at any moment. She surprisingly remembered everything, which was a contrast to the boys. She was really awkward all morning, clearly embarrassed about the night prior. Even though she didn't do much the day before, she was still embarrassed over it. When they'd broke the news to her this was going to continue, she excused herself to the washroom.

Tenko followed her, of course. She basically had some sort of sixth sense that was only knowing when Himiko was upset. Angie followed soon after as well. They didn't really tell anyone what happened at that point, but everyone could assume based on the after result. Himiko's eyes were a little red and puffy afterwards, and the other two had stayed with her for the rest of the morning.

Kokichi had to have had the worst reaction.

He woke up a little after Himiko's scene. He had been like Kiibo, not recognizing his environment at first. He had surprisingly not been as awkward or upset over the night before, or at least he lied about that part. Hell, he'd even made some jokes about the night before. He didn't hide away like the others did, but continued to pester them all morning. It was a little annoying, but no one was bothered by it. Everyone had sort of grown closer over the course of the day, so it was a little different. Shuichi had taken on helping him a bit through the morning, much to Kokichi's delight.

The beginning of the morning was peaceful. It was a shame it had to take such a dramatic turn.

All hell broke loose when Shuichi tried to casually mentioned that was going to happen again. He had assumed since Kokichi didn't act upset about the night before, that he'd be a little calmer about the news. Kokichi paused, before he started to shout. Shuichi and him ended up having a huge argument in the dining hall. Shuichi was trying to calm him down, wile he whas just upsetting himself more and more. Everyone decided to give them their privacy during this time.

Yelling could be heard if you were almost anywhere on the first floor. It was mostly one sided, judging by the voices. Kokichi's arguments stopped sounding like anger, and drifted towards loud venting

About half an hour later, Shuichi shuffled into the Library holding a quiet Kokichi. Their argument ended in tears and Kokichi ended up slipping towards the end. It was later explained that Kokichi didn't wake up feeling fully normal, and had been cloudy the whole time. It turns out that whole scene was mostly just a tantrum, and they made up afterwards.

Out of respect for both Kokichi and Shuichi, no one questioned it much further.

No-one expected Korekiyo to take it well, honestly. He'd resisted the most yesterday, and had spent his whole time hiding as a little. None of them truly knew how he would be acting in his little space, other than hiding and crying, anyways. Most of them were curious about how he'd be in a more relaxed state. Hopefully they'd witness it soon, as no one wanted to have Kiyo spend his whole time alone like usual.

That being said, everyone was prepared for him to not have the easiest time accepting the news.

Korekiyo's wide eyes stared at Kaito's averted ones. He froze for a few seconds, not even blinking. Everyone in the room held their breathe. This would be the moment of truth, seeing how he would react. Kaito flicked his eyes back to to Korekiyo, who still hadn't said anything. He studied his body language slightly, looking for some reaction other than shock.

His hands were shaking.

Korekiyo blinked, looking down. This was... horrible, really. It was barely processing in his mind, and the more it did, the more he wanted to leave. The circumstances had gotten worse. Someone had to die to lift his curse. While that was a possibility, most people alive had agreed on a truce to prevent anymore deaths from happening. How long was he supposed to be stuck like this? He didn't want people to have to die, but he didn't know how long he could stay like this.

It also dawned on him that the purpose of this motive was to make it easy to kill him and the others infected. While he would be vulnerable, he would be at the highest risk of potential murder. But, as it seemed currently, there wasn't much he could do right now to get rid of this illness. It wasn't even an illness anymore, truthfully. They had to have done some other way of infecting them, as this doesn't seem very possible. This sounded... more like a curse, to him. He'd have to research in his lab about regression next time he could. There could be a possible way to end this.

He didn't want to look back up, honestly. He had no words to describe the thoughts racing through his mind. He didn't really.. feel anything right now. He didn't feel like crying like yesterday, while he also didn't feel like shrugging this off. He felt cloudy and blank. He wasn't exactly slipping, but.. he just felt like staring. 

Everyone caught onto the silence, and what seemed like Korekiyo dissociating a little. They were glad he didn't have a meltdown over this like the others, but they didn't really expect him to. Even though he was infected, he was still one of the most mature people in this school with them. His silence was something they didn't expect, though.

Kaito turned to Maki, who was watching from the other side of the room. He motioned for her to come over, so she did. She pushed herself off of the bookshelf she was leaning on, walking over to where he and Kiyo stood. Kaito whispered something in her ear, making her lean in. She looked back at him and nodded, before walking forward and grabbing on to Korekiyo's shoulder.

He snapped back to reality, turning his head to face her. She had a stern expression, while his face looked somewhat dazed, which wasn't good. He tried shrugging her off subtly, but to combat that she grabbed on harder. She leaned closer to him, but still respected any personal space he might need.

"Why don't we head to your dorm, Kiyo?" She lead him towards the door, using a soft tone in her voice. "You look like you could use some new clothing, right?"

Korekiyo nodded, slightly breaking out of his shock. He walked to the door with her, mind still racing with thoughts on how he was going to deal with this. She pushed open the door, leading him out of it. The door slowly closed behind them, leaving the people in the room with a somewhat tense atmosphere.

They all sighed, once Korekiyo left. That was rather intense.

* * *

Korekiyo took his time in the shower, today. He cleaned his hair with more care than he usually would. He didn't want to have to go around looking like he did yesterday. It was disgraceful, as someone who took great pride in his long, straight hair. His hair was a good distraction from whatever hell he would have to face later, as well. As long as he focused on his hair, he wouldn't have to worry about later. He didn't have to think about it.

While Korekiyo used his in-dorm bathroom, Maki sat on his bed. He hadn't been in there long, but they had agreed as a group that no little should be left alone at any point. Maki saw a bit of a flaw in that system, as one person being alone with a little could be bad news, but she was trusted enough to be alone with him. She wouldn't hurt him, obviously, but if someone else was alone with him she'd be worried. She'd have to voice her concerns about this later.

She looked around his room without much care. It looked the same as everyone elses, so there wasn't much to be interested in. She stood up, walking around the room without intent. She wasn't here to snoop, but there wasn't much to do in here. Actually, she had an idea.

"Hey, Korekiyo." Her voice was steady and loud enough for him to hear her from the shower. 

"Ah- Yes, Maki?"

"Would you mind if I chose clothes for you to wear after your shower?" Her question was simple, and wouldn't take long. "I don't have much to do out here, right now."

It took a second for a reply to come, but she assumed he was thinking about it. He thought to himself for a second about what clothes he had. There wasn't anything private in his room, now that he thought about it. He'd be find with her looking through his closet. He was actually glad she asked before doing it on her own.

"I don't mind. Please don't make a mess, though."

Korekiyo zoned out again, returning to his shower. Maki walked over to his closet, wondering what normal clothes Korekiyo may have. They all had many sets of their usual uniform, but they'd also been given casual clothing that they'd wear for comfort. She slid the door open, examining his closet. It was very clean and put together, everything folded neatly. 

She found a pair of baggy black jeans. They'd probably be considered skinny jeans if they weren't so oversized. She couldn't imagine Korekiyo wearing these normally, but they looked comfortable. She threw them onto the bed. She searched briefly for any comfortable looking tops. He had a lot of plain button ups, blouses, and... ah. She grabbed a black tee, and examined the front of it. There weren't any patterns or design. She threw it onto the bed as well. 

She looked to the bottom of his wardrobe, finding a pair of black and white sneakers. She hadn't seen him dress casually at all during there stay here, but she figured these would be more comfortable than his regular uniform. She knocked on the bathroom door, before quickly opening it to leave the clothing on the counter. She sat back on the bed.

She heard the water turn off, and she waited for him to come out.

* * *

Minutes later, the door to the bathroom opened. The noise alerted Maki, who had been sitting on the bed doing nothing. Maki brought her focus to see how he'd look in the outfit. Steam was the first thing that left the bathroom, but Korekiyo stepped out momentarily.

Korekiyo's hair was tied into a high slick ponytail, with bangs poked out in the front. He wore a different mask than usual, one that looked to be more of a normal street facemask. The black on black outfit looked like high fashion on him, somehow. His long legs were too long for the pats, which is why he cuffed them a bit at the bottom. The oversized shirt was half tucked in, while the rest fell out. He looked a lot better than yesterday.

Maki noticed his eyes, right away. She had never focused much on the boys looks, but she noticed his eyeliner right away. His eyes were pulled into a completed cat eye look. He looked like a model, truly. His whole atmosphere changed when he wasn't in his military themed uniform. 

Korekiyo noticed her looking, and bowed slightly.

"Maki, thank you for grabbing my my clothing," He smiled a bit at her, which could be seen easier with this mask. "It's greatly appreciated."

She nodded at him, standing up fast. She motioned for him to follow her towards the door. He followed her, and they left after locking his door. They made their way to the school, where everyone was. 

Korekiyo was kind of anxious about this, truthfully. He hadn't recovered from last night, in his eyes. He felt like such a bother, but everyone argued that he was fine. He didn't know if they truly felt like that, but he hoped they did. He looked like such a mess yesterday. His eyes were puffy and had smudged makeup all day, his clothes were wrinkled, he looked tired. He was hoping his appearance today could lead to a better impression than the day prior.

He wasn't completely sure what to think of this outfit. It wasn't as high maintenance as his usual, but it looked okay. It did match well, and fit him okay. He had to admit it was rather comfortable, but it was still a lot difference than his usual outfit. He also doesn't think he's worn his hair up during his stay here. Hopefully he looked okay.

Calming his nerves a bit, they stepped foot into the school.


	5. all the right friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a quest! (short chapter <33)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for dying for a month!! ive been extremely busy irl, and haven't had much interest in writing. i swear im not abandoning it! i probably wont have frequent updates, but i do plan on coming back to this. my writing also isnt the best rn,, so please excuse that ;;

"So... Korekiyo,"

It startled him a little when Maki started talking.

Her face had looked rather intense since they left the room. Clearly, she was deep in thought about something. She had looked like she wanted to say something, but given their personalities, he'd expected her to stay quiet. Her timing wasn't sudden, but it was awkward. They'd been walking in an uncomfortable silence til this point, but it was only natural it would be like that. They weren't close, nor were either of them particularly outgoing in any way.

His glance to her was enough to signal Maki to continue whatever she had to say. She was looking at him, but quickly averted her eyes. She turned her head to the other side somewhat as an awkward habit. He turned his gaze back to the ground ahead of him, giving her a second to figure out what she had to say.

"I know it's not exactly.. my place to give this advice," She moved her hair out of her face, continuing to walk forward. "Considering how I'm not good at this either. But.." She fidgeted a little with one of her ponytails.

Korekiyo studied her. It was clearly uncomfortable for her to admit any weaknesses she may have. He didn't judge her for that, as he had similar mannerisms most of the time. He wasn't quite sure where she was going with this, but he gave her his full attention. If Maki deemed advice important, it probably was important. She wasn't the type to ramble.

"I think, no, *We* all think it would be best for you to interact more with the other little's."

Korekiyo stared ahead as she spoke. He faltered for a second when she said this. How unfortunate. He didn't necessarily want to interact with.. well.. anyone at the moment. His mind rejected the idea as soon as it was spoken.

"I get it. You enjoy your privacy." She sighed, but fully related to him as she said that. "However, trust is supposed to be important right now. I can pretty much guarantee none of the little's have the abilities to hurt you right now, so I think if you're going to trust anyone, it should be them." She continued.

She could basically feel Korekiyo's disagreement radiating off of him. She didn't expect him to want to open up. Hell, she had practically been forced to when Kaito suddenly decided she was interesting enough for him. In Kiyo's situation, he'd be better off opening up himself first. His stare at the ground was intense now.

"Fine, Fine. It's up to you." She muttered. She could feel the tense aura melt away a little when she said that. He calmed down a little, eyes relaxing a little.

"Just... You know more than I do that you can't deal with this alone." 

With that, the silence came back. It was a little more comfortable than before. They walked up to the door to the school, Maki pulling it open. She held it as he walked in, which he thanked her for,

He thought more about it. She was right, unfortunately. He needed someone to give him genuine comfort during this. Someone who could relate to the issues he was facing. He didn't know if he'd actually go through with it, but it was worth considering. He wasn't quite sure who he'd be able to talk to. Kiibo and him were.. severely different. Himiko had expressed that she feared him at some point, which would make that rough. Kokichi was.. Kokichi. This is a difficult scenario no matter how you look at it.

They walked down the hallway for a bit, still in silence. 

"Ah- Maki!" A panicked gasp pulled both Maki and Kiyo out of their thoughts.

Tenko ran towards Maki, looking desperate. Her sprint slowed down and she caught her breathe. She put her hand on Maki's shoulder. Maki winced a little, since she wasn't exactly a fan of being touched, but listened to her anyways.

Tenko looked up at Maki, eyes looking like she could cry. Her hair was a mess, while her clothes were wrinkled and untidy. She had gotten really worked up over something. Her voice wavered as she spoke.

"The kids!" She cried. "I've been trying for an hour! Kiibo and Himiko refuse to take naps." She sighed, exasperated. 

Korekiyo almost laughed at the sight. She had gotten this worked up over that? It was almost funny. Although, the more he thought about it, he could see why she'd get so stressed out. He doubted she'd be the type of person to be good with being strict with kids. She was pretty childish herself, honestly.

Kiyo observed their surroundings as the two girls spoke. Naps weren't.. exactly of his interest. He assumed this meant those two were currently regressed. He was thankful he wasn't.

He turned back to see Tenko dragging Maki away. Maki turned back to him, making eye contact. Tenko yelled for her to hurry, but continued her jog back to the kids.

"Go find Shuichi- You can't be out here alone." She instructed him, then caught up to Tenko. Presumably going to go help her with the kids.

Korekiyo blinked for a second, standing still. That was.. a lot. He sighed. He considered ignoring her instructions for a second, but he knew how much trouble he could get into. She was a serious woman, and he didn't want to find out what she was like hen she was angry. This lead to another issue. Where on earth was he supposed to find Shuichi?

He supposed he should start by checking the dining room. If Shuichi wasn't there, it was likely someone else would be. He could then ask them where to go.


End file.
